TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced guidelines to reopening schools in August on Thursday.
It's something many leaders and families have been waiting for as they prepare for a new school year.
Now that they've been announced, school districts have the green light to finalize plans they've been working on.
Toledo Public Schools leaders say they're excited the guidelines have been revealed, but now it means they have to get down to business to fine tune what they've been working on over the last couple of months.
In order to have kids and teachers back in the classrooms, districts have to follow these guidelines but can create a plan specific to their district.
TPS Deputy Superintendent, James Gant said they were expecting a lot of what DeWine said in his briefing and it allows them the clarity they were waiting for to announce their plans.
Of the five measures needed to return, Gant said, there are going to be a few that are harder to comply with than others.
"Obviously we've been talking a lot about our cleaning and how we go about doing that. That's going to be a tough thing for us. Social distancing given our school system and our population it's going to be extremely difficult as well. It's all going to be challenging, but I think we're up for it," Gant said.
Next steps for TPS include taking a closer look at the document and detailing how it will work for their district. They are hoping to have plans announced early next week.
Perrysburg Superintendent, Tom Hosler, said although it'll take time for these guidelines to be announced for their district, they are able to finalize what they've worked on and release it to their families as well.
They will begin work immediately, he said.
In the next couple of days, they plan to breakdown the document and see what all the wording says. This will help them figure out what's required and what will work best for social distancing and planning purposes.
Hosler said there weren't any surprises with the guidelines once he heard them. One major thing their district is waiting on is what the details say for transportation, because that plays a large role in their district.
"The governor said we need to strive for that 6 ft of social distancing and we know that's not the same as requiring it. So, I think we have to be very thoughtful in our plan to try to strive to create that social distancing," Perrysburg Superintendent, Tom Hosler said.
He said they are going to have flexibility when it comes to getting kids and teachers back in school.
The district is also planning on having assigned seats and limiting the amount of moving throughout the schools.